KIGALI – Former Rwanda presidential candidate Diane Rwigara is denying charges of insurrection and forgery that she says are linked to her criticism of the government’s human rights record.
Rwigara appeared in court on Wednesday in the capital, Kigali. She and some family members were detained late last month. Her mother, Adeline, and sister Anne have been charged with incitement and “discrimination and sectarianism.”
Anne Rwigara says she is shocked to hear the charges, and Adeline Rwigara told the court she has not committed any crime.
The family’s lawyer, Pierre Celestin Buhuru, says the prosecution has declined to provide a dossier detailing the charges.
Authorities disqualified Diane Rwigara from running in the August election won easily by President Paul Kagame, whose government is accused by rights groups of threatening political opponents.
